ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the acuity of Bacon's biography is at least in part a result of his theoretical analysis of historical writing and the way in which that subject might be divided between history of times and biography on the one hand and analytical discourses upon historical topics on the other. These categories were not intended to be exclusive, and Bacon's view of the interplay among them not only makes up a significant portion of The Advancement of Learning but also helps illuminate the novelties of his life of Henry VII. The complexity and grandeur of the structure of The Advancement should not blind us to the fact that what Bacon has to say about history and about how historians work has roots in contemporary debates, and that his placement of varieties of historical thought within his system reflects those debates. Bacon's philosophy of history was less influential than his practice.
